Hi all! I have bought this 1200 model lantern. It is on its way to me now. I really wanted a brass lantern so now was the time to buy one. What version of the 1200 is it? Is the frosted glass the original one? I like the clear type better. Regards!
Congratulations on the lantern Matti. This is the last version of the 1200 that Optimus made. It is from the 1980s and the 1990s. By this time Optimus had outsourced a lot of manufacturing and sourced parts elsewhere as well. It is believed that the quick starter and some burner parts come from Hipolito. It is still assembled by Optimus though. I have heard some people say they can't get them to burn right, but I have not had any problems with the ones I have tried.
Thank You for the input. I have tried min now. It works but the needle stays in the nozzle when i turn the wheel fully to the left. I need to press abit on the needle to make it come loose. If i try with the parts outside it does not get suck. Annoying.
Just have to take it apart and adjust the length of the rod, or put a spacer under the jet. I've been fettling a bunch of old Optimus with jets and needles from various sellers. The length always seems to need to be fiddled with. Looking forward to seeing some pics of it running. Good luck. Did you find it locally or on tradera? I am in Estonia and desperate to get over to Sweden and fill my car with old lamps. Transport price from Sweden to Estonia is really high and so slow. Takes 2 weeks with schemer.
On the 1200, the needle conductor rod is spring-loaded. I would recommend taking the vaporiser/valve assembly apart and checking & cleaning it.
Yes it does sound like something is getting stuck enough so that the spring can't pull the cleaning needle free. As has been said, it needs to be pulled apart and cleaned/aligned so that it moves freely.
Thanks all for Your input. I noticed that the spring kind of jumped a bit when I disassembled it for cleaning. -How to assemble it correctly? Is the wheel to be at some point when doing this? The lantern was bought on the Swedish Tradera site. I guess its cheaper if You find a lantern at a flee market but I havent visited one yet, hoping to make some findings this summer though! Regards!
The assembly should be pretty straight forward. The only thing to be aware of is that the upper vapouriser compresses the spring when you put it on. The pointer on the wheel should point as close to up as possible when the valve is screwed all the way in. This is also when the needle is up. One thing I forgot to mention before is that the fully frosted glass is standard on this variation of the 1200M. Not very practical, but that's what it came with.
A fine lantern. The frosted glass looks the part but has a flaw in that it will conceal any damage to the mantle. If your mantle has a hole, it will only come to your attention once the glass has been damaged. My advice is that leave the frosted glass in if lantern is for show and a clear lens or 50/50 if it's a worker.
Thanks for your advise, found a pic from fettling section showing the spring opposite to how my spring was fitted, so that I must try. *edit: picture from this post. Yes, exactly my opinion. I will buy a clear one later on.
Tonight was a lovely one here in Southern parts of Sweden. After a lucky find of a used Carburetor from a Optimus 200 my lantern works like a charm. I have also found a Optimus clear glass from a Optimus 200 so now I have one white/frosted glass for show and one clear for use. Regards Matti Kucer
Hi everybody! Summer vacation has started. To celebrate that, I have uploaded a pic of my first 1200. It works very good now, currently with Optimus 250CP mantles. I am a fan of the somewhat golden/warm light so I will try to find some other mantle brand.
Hi Phaedrus42! Via this forum I have learned that my lantern has the Petromax/Hippolito flip type of pre-heat torch. I find it somewhat tricky to ignite. The pre-heat with spirit never fail.
